Vending-machine.



lll/ll 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATBNTED OCT. l1, 1904.

v/l/ l W. L. HOLLOWAY.

VENDING MACHINE.

vxPPLIoATIoN FILED DE01, 190s.

FIG. l.

No MODEL.

WIIWESSES. ,9, 5. t

No. 771,910. PATENTED 00T. 11, 1904. W. L. HOLLOWAY.

VENDING MACHINE.

y APPLICATION FILED DEO. 7. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

G FIG.4. v FIG. 6.

WITNESSES L i INYLWToJz.-

UNITED STATES Patented October 11, 1904.

WILLIS L. HOLLOWAY, OF WESTBRANOH, IOWA.

VENDlNG-NIACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,910, dated Qctober11, 1904.

I Application filed December 7,1903. Serial No. 184,244. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, WILLIS L. HoLLoWAY, a citizen of the United States,residing'at Westbranch, in the county of Cedar and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to coin controlled vending-machines; and itconsists of further improvements upon the pencil-vending machinedescribed in United States Patent No.

- 738,613, issued to me September 8, 1903.

The main object of this invention is to so improve and simplify saidformer invention that only one coin-slot and oneoperating-lever may beused for coins of different value and size corresponding to pencils ofdifferent grades or quality to be delivered from the machine, thusobviating the liability to put the coin in the wrong slot and get themachine out of order. This and other objects I attain by the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure l is a front elevation of the apparatus witha small portion near thetop in section to show the coin-separatingmember. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line a a in Fig. l lookingfrom left to right and-with shaft 38 and adjacent lever 42 slightly`raised into view. Fig. 3 is a sectional top View on line 6 in Fig. 2.Fig. 4 is an enlarged portion of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a section on the linec c in Fig. 4 looking from right to left. Fig. 6 is a modification ofthe operating-lever.

Referring to the drawings by referencenumerals, l is a preferably squarecasing having a lid 2,' hinged at 3 and held closed by a padlock 4 orany other suitable means. rIhe front side 5 of the casing is of glass orother transparent material secured in the front corners 6 of the casing1,which is secured upon the' base 8 by screws 7, inserted upwardly frominside the base. Said hollow base 8 is formed with amoney-tray 9, havingan outlet at the rear covered by a pivoted lid l0, locked by a padlock1I. The base is also provided with an internal inclosure 12 to preventthe money from obstructing the end 13 of the operating-lever 14, whichis pivoted at 15 in a bifurcated standard 16, fixed upon the cover 17,secured by screws 17X over the tray.

Upon the base 8 are secured two arches I8, united at the top bya bar 19,which, if so desired, may be broad enough to form a roof and even wallsof the arches at the sides where the pencils 20L and 20 rest against thearches. By means of said arches, the partition 2l, projecting upwardtherefrom, and the moneychute 22 the casing is divided into twocompartments or hoppers 23, into which are placed pencils 20 and 201 ofdifferent quality-say that the pencils 20 cost one cent a piece and thepencils 2Gb five cents a piece.

The upper money guide or chute 22 is bifurcated into two branches 22 and22h, as best shown in Fig. l, which for convenience in manufacturing andrepairing are intersected at 22X, so that their lower portions formlower chutes 22mL and 22M), held by braces or arms 24, projecting fromthe post 16.

If the coin inserted through the slot 25 be a penny, it finds noobstruction or part to operate before it gets into the lower chute 22,where it operates in a manner presently to be described; but if the coinbe a five-cent piece its diametrical size will in passing under thc arm26, pivoted at 27, raise said arm some, and as the arm is connected byits finger 28 and rod 29 to a crank 30 of a shaft 3l, carrying fixed toit a guiding-plate 32, inside the junction of the upper chutes, saidplate is tilted so as to guide the ve-cent piece into the branch 221 ofthe chute, causing it to drop into the lower chute 22h". When the coinis thus deposited into either one of the lower chutes and the lever 14is pressed on, either by a finger-piece 33 in Fig. 6 or preferably apush-button 34, the coin causes the pencil paid for to drop into one ofthe grooves 35 in the base-piece, and during the dropping mo tion thepencil is pushed forward by a fixed incline 36, with which its rear endcomes in contact, so that its front end comes forward IOO within easyreach of the operator, as indicated in dotted lines 37 in Fig. 3.

The pencil dropping or delivering mechanism will now be described, andas it is eXactly the same in both sides of the machine only that in oneside need be described. In the arches 18 are journaled the ends of arockshaft 38, having two escape-hooks 39 and a radial rocker-arm 40,held down by a spring 41 upon a secondary operating-lever 42, so thatthe hooks 39 support with their lower ends the lowest pencil in thehopper, (see Fig. 1;) but if the arm 40 be raised by the lever 42 thelowest pencil will drop and the upper ends 39 of the hooks hold the nextpencil from falling until the arm is returned to its position, when saidpencil will drop from the upper to the lower end or finger of the hookand be ready for escape and delivery at the next operation. The lever 42is provided with a sleeve-like journal 43 to give it a firm motion. Saidsleeve is retained by the head 44 of a screw upon the end of thefulcrum-pin 15 in the post 16, so that said pin supports the main orprimary lever 14 in the post and one secondary lever 42 at each side ofthe post. The main lever 14 is held in normal position by a spring 45 atits rear end, land from each side of the lever projects a pin 46, whichwhen the primary or operating lever is depressed, while the pendant 47,pivoted at 48 to the secondary lever, hangs about vertically, as in Fig.4, takes upon the pivoted arm 49 of the pendant 47 and carries down thefront end of the lever 42, so that its rear end raises the rocker-arm 40and drops the pencil from the hooks. If the operating-lever be depressedwhile the pendant 47 stands at an incline, as in Fig. 2, the pin 46passes by the arm 49 and does not operate the secondary lever 42. Thependant 47 is normally held in the slanting position by the spring 50and either end of an elongated tumbler 51, pivotedl at the middle to asuitable point of the brace 24 or other iiXed part, and being revolubleon the pivot may swing either end in through the slot in the rear sideof the adjacent chute and is held in that horizontal position by havingits end tooth 52 engaged by the notch 53 of the lightly-spring-pressedpendant until the coin passing down the chute turns the tumbler into theposition shown in Fig. 4 and to the left in Fig. 3. The coin thusoperates to make the pin 46 operative to deliver a pencil at the side ofthe machine where the coin passes down according to its size. With thepar-ts brought by the coin into the position in Fig. 4 the lever 14 isdepressed, the pencil-escapement operated, and the notch 53 of thependant 47 is brought below the tooth 52 of the tumbler, so that whenthe lever 14 returns to its normal position the pendant turns thetumbler to the horizontal position, (shown in Fig. 2 and to the right inFig. 3,) to be operated by the next coin. As best shown in Fig. 5, thefinger or arm 49 is pivoted at the top of the pendant 47 and is formedwith a shoulder 54, supporting the arm in a horizontal position,and ashoulder 55 to so limit the raising of the arm that it will fall back ofits own weight to the horizontal position. A light spring 56 may also beused to insure the return of the arm to normal position after the pin 46has escaped upward-namely, in case it should accidentally get below thearm 49-by pressing the operating-lever before the coin had acted on thetumbler and brought the arm 49 in under the pin 46. It will beunderstood that the lower end 13 of the lever 14 projects downwardthrough a slot 56 in the top of the base, and similar slots 57 admit thecoins from the chutes into the tray 9 in the base.

' In the foregoing description I have indicated only two grades ofpencils and only two sizes of coins; but it is obvious that on theprinciple disclosed I may provide more than two hoppers and give themoney-chute 22 more than two branches, as the larger the coin is themore it will tilt the guide 32, so that each size of coin will slideinto the chute predetermined for such coin and will operate to connectwith the operating-lever a mechanism delivering goods of equal value tothe coin deposited. To show such extended degree of utilizing myinvention would involve an unnecessary complication or crowding of thedrawings. Among other modifications which may be made will be noted theform of operating-lever in Fig. 6. The casing may be secured in anysuitable manner upon the base. The grooves 35 in the base may bedispensed with and openings provided in the front of the casing near thebase for the pencils to come forward through. Also in many otherrespects I do not desire to be limited to the eX- act forms, materials,and arrangements shown and described, as I am aware that manymodiications may be made therein without departing from the scope andspirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A vending-machine comprisingacasing having a plurality of hopperswith a delivery mechanism in the bottom of each for goods of differentprices, a single slot in which to deposit coins of different sizes, achute receiving the money and conveying same into a receptacle below;said chute having near its upper end a coin-separating mechanism andbeing below said mechanism divided into several branches, each of whichhaving a side slot,

IOO

pivoted tumblers projecting normally into the slots so as to be turnedby a falling coin, a single primary lever adapted to be operated by apressure of the hand or finger, secondary levers adjacent the primarylever, a coupling mechanism at one end of each secondary lever, toestablish operative connection with the primary lever whenever saidmechanism is released by the tumbler when the latter is turned by thefalling coin,.said secondary lever having operative connection with thegoods-delivering mechanism at the outlet of the hopper holding goods ofthe price corresponding to the coin deposited into the machine.

2. A vending-machine comprising a casing having a plurality of hopperswith a delivery mechanism in the bottom of each for goods of differentprices, a single slot in which to deposit coins of different sizes, achute receiving the money and conveying same into a receptacle below;said chute having near its upper end a coin-separating mechanism andbeing below said mechanism divided into several branches, each of whichhaving a side slot, pivoted tumblers projecting normally into the slotsso as to be turned by a falling coin, a single primary operating-leveradapted to be operated by hand, secondary levers adjacent to the primarylever, a coupling mechanism at one end of each of the secondary levers,to establish operative connection with the primary lever whenever saidmechanism is released by the tumbler when the latter is turned by thefalling coin, said secondary levers having operative connection with thegoods-delivering mechanisms in the outlets ofthe hoppers, and saidcoupling mechanisms between the primary operating-lever and thesecondary levers being self-releasing in case the primary lever ismoving upward to get a proper hold after being depressed too early,before the coin has acted on the coupling mechanism.

3. In a vending-machine, the combination With the standard 16, thespring-held operating-lever 14 pivoted therein and having the side pins46, of the levers 42 having each a spring-pressed pivoted pendant 47with the notch 53 and upwardly-yielding pivoted arm 49 adapted to beengaged by said pin, a coinchute adjacent to the pendant, anintermediate pivoted tumbler projecting alternately into the passage ofthe coin through the chute, and acting on the pendant to hold italternately out of or admit it into the path of the pin 46, andgoods-delivering means operated by the lever 42, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIS L. HOLLOWAY.

Witnesses:

D. E. MCCLELLAN, R. T. SMITH.

